It will mark the beginning of the new decade in the IPL, with the 11th edition starting with a new broadcaster, Star Sports. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be part of the auction after serving a two-year suspension on disciplinary grounds.

The IPL auction for the 11th edition is set to take place in the last week of next month.(BCCI)

The mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is likely to be held in the last week of January 2018. Goa will be the preferred venue, but given the Christmas and New Year rush, the BCCI officials are having second thoughts about the venue.

While the core of some of the teams will remain the same, after being allowed to retain three players and two right-to-match cards, the rest of the players will be in the auction pool.

It will mark the beginning of a new five-year deal, with the 11th edition of IPL starting with a new broadcaster, Star Sports. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be part of the auction after serving a two-year suspension on disciplinary grounds.

The 11th IPL may also see the return of MS Dhoni to the CSK fold. “The player pool available for Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for retention/Right to Match will be the players’ who played for them respectively in IPL 2015 and who were part of RPS and Gujarat Lions squads in IPL 2017,” BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said recently.

MS Dhoni has been associated with Chennai Super Kings since the beginning of the Indian Premier League. From 2008 till 2015, he led them to two IPL titles in 2010 and 2011 and entered the final of the tournament four times in 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2015.

The IPL Governing Council has also hiked the salary budget of the franchises from Rs 66 crore to Rs 80 crore for the auction. “The minimum spend will be 75 per cent of the salary cap for each season,” the BCCI stated.

The player rules for the Right to Match are maximum number of three Capped Indian players, maximum number of two overseas players, maximum number of two uncapped Indian players.

The player auctions for the 2018 edition of the tournament may see big splash of cash by the franchises.

In September, the IPL media rights were auctioned and it proved to be a windfall for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). STAR India bagged the global rights for a five-year period for Rs 16,347.50 crore.